SHILLONG: The High Court of Meghalaya on Thursday took up the plight of rape victims, who are yet to receive compensation under the approved package.
Earlier on Wednesday, a letter from Meena Kharkongor, the Chairperson of Meghalaya State Commission for Protection of Child Rights in this regard was placed before the Chief Justice of High Court of Meghalaya and it was registered as a PIL.
According to the letter, despite the interim compensation of Rs 2 lakh as awarded by the Special Court (POCSO) in Shillong on August 5 this year, the state government has not made any payments to the families of a child victim.
“It appears on perusal of the report that the child victim, a minor girl of 3 ½ years old, has to undergo medical treatment outside the state which, if provided with the compensation, will go a long way in her treatment. Since the state government despite the interim compensation, as ordered, has not yet made any payment, the matter being extremely serious needs to be noticed on the judicial side, the joint registrar (judicial) said.
)During the hearing on the matter, the division bench comprising Chief Justice Ajay Kumar Mittal and Justice HS Thangkhiew, issued notice to Advocate General who accepted it on behalf of the state government.
The advocate general produced a copy of the order of November 11 last year passed by the division bench wherein Rs 50 lakh under the victim compensation fund had been sanctioned by the political department.
It was stated that it is for the Member Secretary, Meghalaya State Legal Services Authority (MSLSA) to examine the cases and after proper approval to release the amount in favour of the deserving victims to the extent recommended by the authorities.
The court issued notice to member secretary, MSLSA to be present in the court on Friday.
